The 5 Best Hobby Drones – Drone Options for Hobbyist

Hobbyist drones for sale are coming out of every nook and cranny imaginable these days. They’re literally everywhere, so I’m super excited to bring you a list of, in my opinion, the 5 best hobby drones currently out on the market.

A lot of people simply assume that all drones are made for the hobby of flying, but that isn’t true! In fact, the category of hobby drones is something in itself and entirely different from all drones out there.

Hobby drones for beginners are also out there, as well. The craze all started with primitive models attached to the controller using a cord, which, obviously, really limited what you could do. Thankfully, however, hobby drones are now better than ever, so let’s get right into it!

FAQ About Hobby Drones

If you don’t find your question in my FAQ, get in touch with me and let me know!

Do I still have to register my hobby drone with the FAA

Whether or not you need to register your drone, hobby category or not, will depend on a couple of different factors. You can easily check if your hobby drone needs to be registered with the FAA by clicking here!

Can I get a hobby drone with a camera?

You sure can! In fact, some of the best hobby drones in my review have cameras, so jump right into the review section if you’d like and you’ll see for yourself.

How good are beginner hobby drones?

Because my website is based on beginner drones as a whole, I’m no doubt going to give you some insight into the best beginner hobby drones on the market. After all, that is what this article is about!

The Top 5 Hobbyist Drones for Sale

Hobbyist drones have come a heck of a long way these days. Say goodbye to the restrictive cord and say hello to awesome upgrades that have redefined the category entirely!

Altair AA108

The AA108 by Altair is currently priced around $130 and is hands down my favorite hobbyist drone for sale. It’s a great hobby drone for beginners who have an interest in aerial photography and an eye for both simple and advanced features.

Here are the features and the specs:

– Has a premium 720p HD camera that supports real-time video feeds in FPV and a 120-degree, wide-angle lens for photos and videos

DBPOWER MJX X400W

The MJX X400W by DBPOWER is currently available for $70. A lot of the drones you’re about to see on my list come at this price or lower, but that’s fine, it just means they’re cost effective and great options for beginner hobby drones for sale. This includes this one, too!

Here are the features and the specs:

-Uses a camera with 720p HD resolution with FPV and real-time transition

The biggest pro that the MJX X400W by DBPOWER has to offer is the fact that it can surprisingly withstand some wind! One user reported flying it in winds reaching 7 mph, and that it actually handled pretty well.

The biggest con, however, is that it can have certain control and handling issues. Because of this, I strongly recommend that you first fly it indoors to get a good feeling on how the controls work.

HORNET 818

The 818 HORNET by ALTAIR AERIAL is one of the best hobby drones for many reasons. It can be yours for as little as $149, which is an awesome price for a beginner hobby drone. This is what I like to call a “throwaway price”, but with the quality you’re getting, it’s not exactly a throwaway drone, is it? Let’s get to the good bits!

-Total flight time of between 7 to 9 minutes which can be tripled with the extra batteries included for free

-Has a transmission range of up to 300 feet

-Uses a blinking LED light for the low battery warning and another for low visibility and/or night flying

-Comes with a 4GB MicroSD card

The biggest pro that the 818 HORNET by ALTAIR has to offer is the simple fact that it’s a perfect starter beginner hobby drone. It’s got a lot of great features that help you learn, a price you can’t say no to, and is an overall great stepping stone to more professional drones, should you choose to eventually move toward them.

The biggest con, however, is that hovering in place can be a little tricky. It doesn’t have any Altitude Hold-like features or anything of the sort, so be careful if you try to have it positioned in midair.

Hubsan X4 H107L

The X4 H107L by Hubsan is another fantastic budget hobby drone for beginners. It’ll cost you around $32, but don’t let that be the factor that makes you move onto the next drone in my review. I think this one will definitely surprise you if you give it a chance.

Here are the features and the specs:

-Uses a 2.4GHz transmission frequency with 4 channels

-Has a durable, one-piece mainframe

-Uses a 6-axis gyro stabilization system

-Features various stunt modes

-Able to be flown both indoors and outside

-Has a transmission range of up to 300 feet

-Total flight time of up to 5 minutes

The biggest pro that the X4 H107L by Hubsan has to offer is the fact that it’s as simple as beginner hobby drones can get. You don’t get any serious features, so you can focus more on learning to fly and perfecting your skills.

The biggest con, however, is that it can be difficult to fly. With this in mind, try to remember that this learning curve gives you a ton of potential. Difficult to control drones are the best for learning how to fly without having any fancy features to help you do so!

SYMA X5C-1

The X5C-1 can be yours for as little as $47 and comes from the incredibly popular SYMA manufacturer. It’s not as basic as the Hubsan I just mentioned, so if you’re looking for a cheap hobby drone with a bit more to offer in the way of specs and features, you’re going to love this one.

Here are the features and the specs:

Has a number of LED lights on the bottom for low visibility flying and flying during the night

Has a flight time of up to 7 minutes

Uses a 2.4GHz transmission frequency with up to 4 flight channels

Equipped with a 6-axis flight stabilization control system

Uses an elastic protective circle that’s highly elastic to ensure that wearing down isn’t possible and a crash or collision will not be a problem should something happen

Has an HD camera with videos and photos saved on an SD card that you must provide yourself

The biggest pro that the X5C-1 by SYMA has to offer is the fact that you’re paying less than $50 for a decent HD camera that definitely surprised me, so no doubt it’ll surprise you, too!

The biggest con, however, is that you must be extremely careful with the range. Users have reported that going out of range won’t make it spotty, it’ll just make it take off completely.